2013 Darwin Awards

Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of
evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene
pool by removing themselves from it.

Some Finnish
2013 Darwin Award Winner
Confirmed True by Darwin

(13 September 2013, Finland) Two brothers-in-law were united by a common interest that is shared by a small but regrettably significant proportion of the population: collecting war weapons. By the date of their deaths, they had collected over 100 frag grenades, bazookas, fuse materials and ammunition from the forests of Lapland. The men enjoyed collecting the weapons as trophies, yet had no training in the handling and disposal of explosives! One can see how this is all going to end.

Around 6pm On A Friday Night The 24- And 27-Year-Old Men Were Both In The
Garage With Their Antique Weapons Collection. The Older Man Had Finished
Defusing A Grenade And Was carefully removing the payload. The object of
his attention was not a smAll Hand Grenade But Rather A Large 75-Mm
Anti-Tank Grenade, 42 Centimeters (17 Inches) Long! Ironically The Attempt
To Render It Harmless resulted in the opposite outcome. In the northern
town of Kemi the peace of the garage was shattered by a small
explosion. The man holding the grenade died in the ambulance, and the other
survived with serious injuries.

In the aftermath of the explosion 200 people within a 150-meter perimeter
surrounding the garage were evacuated to a school, and then dozens of
kilograms of explosives were safely removed by the Peräpohjolan Police
Department. Evacuees returned to their homes with gratitude for their
lives. If more war weapons had been set off in a chain reaction then there
would have been victims and damaged buildings up to 300 meters away from
the garage!

Thankfully it was not a full detonation; rather than explode the old
explosive material combusted and burned. Since no bystanders were injured,
this is a wonderfully apt nomination for Darwin Award plus Honorable
Mention. "In Finland you do not disassemble bomb, bomb disassemble you."
ORIGINAL SUBMISSION